Beware: Idle minds at work

Nicole Haase would like to work harder than she does. But as a receptionist and payroll administrator for a manufacturing firm in Milwaukee, she finds limited opportunities to take on more duties.

“Work is slow. We're a small company, so it's not always easy to find other things to do,'' Haase says.

To fill empty moments, she e-mails friends and works on freelance writing assignments. “The internet is my friend — anything to make the time pass,'' she says, adding that the strain of having too little to do creates its own kind of burnout.

Pervasive problem

There's a name for this kind of underemployment: boreout. In Boreout! Overcoming Workplace Demotivation, authors Philippe Rothlin and Peter Werder call it a pervasive problem.

Studies show that one third of workers in the United States do not have enough to do. Underchallenged employees spend more than two hours a day on personal matters.

Employers waste over $5,000 (Dh18,369) a year per worker on boreout.

The authors, business consultants in Europe, explain that boreout consists of three elements: being “understretched'', uncommitted and bored at the workplace.

Strategies to look busy

Many underutilised employees ask for more work after starting a new job, says Werder, of Zurich.

“But after one year, although they hate boreout, they stop asking because no one takes it seriously.'' Aware that they cannot just sit at their desks and stare into space, many workers devise strategies to look busy.

That often involves technology. “Mobile phones, the internet and e-mail make it much easier to pretend to work,'' Werder says.

For Haase, the road to boreout began after she graduated from college with degrees in journalism and Spanish. Saddled with student loans, she took her job two years ago.

“When I was hired, they saw my skill set and said they would use it,'' she says.

“But I'm in my receptionist bubble and they're not willing to let me try to do anything more.''

Megan Rothman, a marketing copywriter, describes herself as underchallenged.

“I took this position because I was told we would all wear many hats because we are a small, private company,'' she says. But after she was hired, that never happened.

“I have asked to take on additional responsibilities or projects that may be outside the typical range of my job description. But my boss doesn't seem to be willing to accommodate me,'' Rothman says.

No work at the workplace

She divides her idle time between productive tasks, such as reading marketing blogs or doing writing exercises.

As unemployment rates soar, Haase, Rothman and others who feel underworked are quick to express appreciation for having a job.

At the same time, workplace specialists emphasise the importance of remaining committed and connected to their employer.

“These days, with the economy, it behooves people to notice their boredom and think about what they can add to their job,'' says Daisy Swan, a career strategist in Los Angeles.

Werder advises employees struggling with boreout to ask: Is this really what I want to do? “Some people are in the wrong job, though not the wrong company,'' he says.

A worker can also ask: Do my bosses know about my ability? Do they know I don't have enough to do? Do I communicate what I want to do? Sometimes businesses have too many employees for the work available.

Swan offers another reason for underemployment. “A lot of people take shadow positions to what they would like,'' she says.

“They love to play music but they work for a music distributor.'' The task is to see if they can increase the music in another area of their life.

Other times, she adds, “maybe the boredom is a real message that you need to make a change''.

For those eager for greater challenges, Steve Bohler, director, Oxford Programme for Career Change in Cooperstown, New York, suggests a first step.

“Daydream,'' he says. “Mentally get yourself out of your job. It's a good chance to envision what your best possible solutions are.''

For employers concerned about boredom on the job, J.B. Bryant, a business consultant in Orrville, Ohio, offers this reminder: “People don't want to be bored. Given the opportunity, they'll be productive to their fullest ability.''